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LORD OF THE FLIES FINAL ESSAY EVIL IN HUMAN NATURE The novel Lord of the Flies involves boys that undergo many different changes as they adapt to being away from a civilized society. Throughout the book Jack discovers his darker more barbaric side. Ralph starts as a self-assured boy whose confidence comes from the acceptance of his peers and those around him. Ralph is a fair boy listening to the suggestions of his peers, even Piggy. Piggy was an educated boy who had lives the life of an outcast.
He had an academic childhood which led him to be more mature and retain a more civilized manner of behavior. The experience he has on the island shows him the cruelty that people can posse. Golding used changes experienced by boys on an uninhabited island to show the evil nature of man. Jack is the worst of them all when it comes to being evil. Jack is first described as having an ugly sense of cruelty, which makes him naturally unlikeable. The freedom offered to him by the island allowed him to express the darker sides of his personality that he had hid from the ideals of his past environment.
Without adults, a superior and responsible authority, he brushed away the fear of being punished for doing things that were mean and improper. This freedom, along with his malicious and arrogant personality, made it possible to quickly change from a choir boy to a blood thirsty savage. He put on paint to camouflage himself from the pigs and it also acted as a mask for his emotions. Hiding facial expressions which would betray. Using hunting he showed his raw emotions, and liked the blood and killing animals. He got sick pleasure of hunting prey that he knew was afraid of his spear.
This display revealed the real Jack. This showed the boys that he was a stronger person and this allowed Jack to take control. Ralph displays the average person. He is a good person and has a brush with evil.
Ralph is a fair, likeable, boy. His self assurance made him feel safe even though there were no adults. Ralph's interaction with Piggy demonstrated his pleasant nature. He did not call him names with hateful intent as Jack did. His good build allowed him to be well accepted by those around him, this acceptance gave him the confidence to be chief.
His attitude and being the holder of the conch caused him to stand out and be appointed chief by his peers. There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: There were his size, and attractive appearance; Most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. With the quick decisions Ralph made as chief near the beginning of the novel, he made it seem as though he was organized. Ralph began repeatedly to long for and daydream of his civilized and regular past.
Gradually, Ralph became confused and started to lose clarity in his thoughts and in his speeches to the boys. He started to feel lost in their new environment as the boys, with the exception of Piggy, began to change and adapt to their freedom. He was more influenced by Piggy than by Jack, who in a way could be viewed as a source of evil. Even though the significance of the fire as a rescue signal was slowly dismissed, Ralph continued to stress the importance of the fire at the mountaintop. This difference made most of the boys less convinced of the integrity of Ralph. As his supporters became fewer and Jacks insistence on being chief grew, his strength as a leader diminished.
But even though Ralph had retained much of his past social conditioning, he too was not spared from the evil released by the freedom from rules and adults. During the play-fight after their unsuccessful hunt, Ralph for the first time, had an opportunity to join the hunters and share their desire for violence. Without rules to limit them, they were free to make their game as real as they wanted. Ralph did not understand the hatred Jack had for him, nor did he fully comprehend why their small and simple society failed.
This confusion removed his self-confidence and made him more dependent on Piggy's judgement, until Piggy began prompting him on what needed to be said and done. Ralph's more responsible behavior set him apart from the other savage boys and made it difficult for him to accept and realize the changes they were undergoing. Piggy was the smart one. He was able to remain under control by using his knowledge and not emotion. Piggy was an educated boy rejected by the kids of his age group because he was overweight.
It was his isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from his primitive experience. His status in their society allowed him to look at the boys as an outsider. He could learn about hate without having to experience the thirst for blood that Ralph was exposed to. Although he was easily intimidated by the other boys, especially Jack, Piggy did not lack self confidence to protest and speak out.
His self confidence differed from Ralph's because it did not come from his or Jack. It came from his pride in knowing that he was smarter than the other boys. This made Piggy more aware of why rules were imposed and he made sure that he would abide by them even when they were not enforced. Piggy was a person who could look ahead and plan carefully.
He shouted at the boys, The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach... Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isnt no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire. Like Ralph, his sense of responsibility set him apart from the other boys.
Piggy was an intelligent boy with a good understanding of their situation on the island. He was able to think clearly and plan ahead with caution, so that even in the freedom of their open world, his wisdom and isolation from the savage boys kept him from giving into the evil that had so easily consumed Jack and his followers. The cruelty Jack inflicted upon him taught Piggy how much more pain there was in the world. Lord of the flies uses the changes experienced by boys on an uninhabited island to show the evil nature of man. By using different characters, the author was able to portray various types of people found in our society. They were revealed in the freedom from the laws and punishment of a world with adults.
Under their former society, Jacks inner evil was hidden, but when the rules no longer existed, he was free to do whatever he desired. Ralph was so used to a civilized world, that the changes they underwent were difficult for him to understand. He was confused and less capable of thinking clearly and independently. Although he too had experienced the urge for violence that had driven Jack and the hunters to madness, his more sensitive personality and his sense of self saved him from complete savagery.
These two traits also helped to keep Piggy from becoming primitive in behavior. He was made an outcast by his undesirable physique and his superior intelligence. This isolation and wisdom also helped Piggy to retain his civilized behavior. He was made painfully aware of the great amount of injustice in the world. From these three characters, it could be said that under the same circumstances, different individuals can develop in different ways depending on the factors within themselves and how they interacted with each other. Their personalities and what they knew can determine how they would interpret and adapt to a new environment, such as the tropical island.
Not everyone has so much hate hidden inside their self to become complete savages when released from the boundaries of our society. Some people will, because of the ways they were conditioned, remember and live by the rules they had depended on for social organization and security.
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Research essay sample on Isolation From The Savage Boys Nature Of Man
